Je Suis Américain

There is one sure fire way to turn on the neon sign that floats above my head which reads, "American."

Surprisingly, it is not when I open my mouth.  About 80% of the time, as long as I keep my responses short, I can get through a conversation without someone detecting that I am American.  The other 20% of the time, the other person might switch to speaking English and I am left feeling a little defeated.

It's not because I am Chinese, because Geneva is such an international city.  With the United Nations here, and so many financial companies, it is truly a melting pot of diverse nationalities and cultures.

Nope, it's whenever I hold this in my hand:

It caught the eye of our neighbors one morning, on our way to take Hayden to school.  Until then, I hadn't really noticed, but nobody has travel mugs.   Geneva, and Europe in general, is certainly more about the espresso than the big "Café Américain," but here, you will still find Starbucks and takeaway coffee cups.  In speaking to another Expat, from the UK, travel mugs are common there.  

I do miss being able to go to a restaurant and order a cup of coffee, knowing that I will get a big cup and the server will come back and top it off when my coffee gets low.  Here, a teeny tiny coffee will run you about 3 CHF and there are no refills.

There are two things that typically drive me to drink more coffee - interrupted nights of sleep, like after having a baby & when the weather turns cold.  So, you can imagine that I am literally running on coffee these days! Not a great time to have to pay by the cup, or stick out when I carry around my travel mug. :)

Yesterday, I was craving eggs so my mom and I went to Happy Days Cafe, also commonly known here as the "American Cafe," because of its all American menu of breakfast, burgers and shakes.  You can get a breakfast of eggs, potatoes, bacon, sausage and pancakes for 22 CHF ($24)

Imagine my DELIGHT when our server came with coffee pot in hand and asked if we would like MORE coffee?!  Later, I asked if they were open on weekends, and she replied, "We're open 7 days a week!" with a bit of a glint in her eye, because I am sure she could see that we were sure to return and bring friends, now that we knew about free coffee refills.  I know it's probably silly to get so excited about this, but it sure made my day!

Oh, the little things...